Wilderness.org - Oil Subsidieshttp://wilderness.org/tags/oil-subsidies
enGas price myths from the Senate floorhttp://wilderness.org/update/gas-price-myths-senate-floor
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mar 28, 2012</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/carfilling-up-futureatlas.com-Flickr.jpg?itok=tzrVYPi2" width="500" height="263" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>car filling up</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>futureatlas.com Flickr</p>
</div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>While&nbsp;debating a bill that would repeal $2 billion in tax subsidies for Big Oil, S. 2204, United States Senators came to the floor to state their case. Unfortunately, those defending Big Oil&rsquo;s perks decided to use well-worn myths and misdirection. It is important for American consumers to know what is true and what is more Big Oil spin. Here are 4 commonly mentioned myths that Senators used to defend the indefensible Big Oil tax subsidies:</p>
<p><strong>Myth</strong>: &ldquo;Doing away with these [taxpayer subsidies] is nothing more than a tax hike that will raise gas prices.&rdquo; &ndash;Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK)<br /><strong>Fact</strong>: A similar refrain was echoed by Sens. Hoeven and Vitter, but it is not true. According to the&nbsp;<a href="http://democrats.senate.gov/pdfs/20110511-crs-analysis-on-gas-prices.pdf" target="_blank">Congressional Research Service</a>&nbsp;&ldquo;the the price of oil is determined on the world market and tends not to be sensitive to small cost variations experience in regional production areas.&rdquo;&nbsp; With oil selling at over $100 a barrel, the tax subsidies have lost their incentivizing purpose and are no longer relevant to gas prices and do not affect crude oil prices at all. Repealing generous tax subsidies will not have an impact on gas prices.</p>
<p><strong>Myth</strong>: An increase in domestic oil production will bring down gas prices. &ndash;Senator John Hoeven (R-ND)<br /><strong>Fact</strong>:&nbsp;This favorite myth was just <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57401456/more-us-drilling-didnt-drop-gas-price/" target="_blank">de-bunked by the Associated Press</a>.&nbsp; Crude oil prices are set on a world market. The United States only has 2% of the world&rsquo;s oil. Domestic production does not make a difference in the price set by OPEC. If increased production could bring down gas prices, then they would already be decreasing because we are producing more oil than at any point in the last 8 years. In spite of this fact, prices continue to spike and volatility reins. As a result, we can conclude that domestic production will not affect prices at the pump.</p>
<p><strong>Myth</strong>: We cannot repeal the tax subsidies because &ldquo;the tax subsidies enjoyed by the Big 5 oil companies are put back into production.&rdquo; &ndash;Senator Dan Coats (R-IN)<br /><strong>Fact</strong>: The Big 5 oil companies make $137 billion in annual profits, while collecting $2 billion in yearly tax subsidies. Even with the small amount of subsidies in relation to their profits, they do not use them to increase production.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/05/tax_holiday.html" target="_blank">As explained by the Center for American Progress last year</a>, much of this money is used to increase their companies&rsquo; stock price through stock buybacks. While this is great for Big Oil and their shareholders, it does nothing for American consumers and the high prices at the pump.</p>
<p><strong>Myth</strong>: President Obama&rsquo;s energy policy is to keep domestic energy off limits. - Senator Dan Coats (R-IN)<br /><strong>Fact</strong>: Oil and gas production in the United States is at an 8 year high. If President Obama was working to keep our domestic energy off limits, he is doing a terrible job. While our production on shore is skyrocketing, prices at the pump are doing the same. Meanwhile the oil and gas companies are hoarding leases and permits on our public lands, while keeping them idle. Out of 38 million public acres the oil and gas companies hold, two thirds of them are idle. 7,000 permits have been issued that are not being used. Even with all of the idle land, the United States has&nbsp;<a href="http://investor.shareholder.com/bhi/rig_counts/rc_index.cfm" target="_blank">more active drilling rigs than the rest of the world combined</a>.&nbsp; The United States is producing fossil fuels at staggering rates, but this is not enough for the oil industry and their Capitol Hill allies.</p>
<p>Big Oil has held some of these tax subsidies for nearly a century, long before they were making more than $100 billion in yearly profits. With the United States facing tough budget choices, this is an easy one. Big Oil does not need billions of dollars in taxpayer handouts and their allies are resorting to myths to try and stand up for them. It&rsquo;s time to end the corporate welfare for Big Oil.</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:00:00 +0000Foster Burgess1679 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/update/gas-price-myths-senate-floor#commentsThe truth behind $4 gasoline that Big Oil doesn't want you to knowhttp://wilderness.org/blog/truth-behind-4-gasoline-big-oil-doesnt-want-you-know
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mar 22, 2012</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/carfillingup-xJasonRogersx-Flickr.jpg?itok=gnY0_haA" width="500" height="263" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>car filling up</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>xJasonRogersx Flickr</p>
</div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><strong><em>UPDATE:</em></strong>&nbsp; The Senate just finished voting on a motion to repeal $2 billion of oil subsidies to the biggest oil companies.&nbsp; A majority of the Senate - 51 Senators from both sides of the aisle - voted to repeal the subsidies.&nbsp; While 60 votes were needed because of the filibuster, this is still a strong show of support for ending the tax breaks for oil companies that don&#39;t need them.&nbsp; The Wilderness Society supporters sent more than 30,000 messages to their Senators, so you should all pat yourselves on the back.&nbsp; We&#39;ll keep fighting to break free from Big Oil - and thank you for your support!</p>
<p>As gas prices hover near $4 per gallon, politicians of all stripes are taking to the airwaves and campaign trails to spell out their plans to save Americans money at the gas pump.&nbsp; Unfortunately, many of them are pushing the same bad plans that got us into our oil-dependent crisis, rather than trying to get us out of it.</p>
<p>A common theme has been that we just aren&rsquo;t drilling enough on American lands.&nbsp; They argue that if we opened up all of our lands &ndash; including iconic places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge &ndash; we wouldn&rsquo;t feel so much pain at the pump.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But the reality is, we have been testing that theory for the last 8 years.&nbsp; We&rsquo;re drilling a lot.&nbsp; We&rsquo;re drilling more than any other country in the world.&nbsp; In fact, we&rsquo;re drilling more than every other country in the world combined. So far, it hasn&rsquo;t prevented gas prices from spiking in 2008 under President Bush nor in 2011 under President Obama.</p>
<p>What about access for oil and gas drilling?&nbsp; A common complaint from the oil industry is that they are being &ldquo;locked out&rdquo; of places to drill &ndash; places like the Arctic Refuge in Alaska or in the Rocky Mountains.&nbsp; But the problem isn&rsquo;t where they are &ldquo;locked out&rdquo; &ndash; it&rsquo;s where they have already &ldquo;locked in&rdquo; permission to drill. Oil companies have already been granted oil and gas leases on more than 38 million federal acres &ndash; as much land as in the state of Florida.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But these leases too often sit idle, despite the high gasoline prices. The latest report from the Energy Information Administration shows that 2 out of every 3 acres leased are INACTIVE!&nbsp; Next time you hear the industry complaining about the 2 million acre piece of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where they cannot drill, ask them about the 26 million federal acres already under lease where they can drill.&nbsp; They are hoarding an area the size of Kentucky but not doing anything with it!</p>
<p>On top of their Bluegrass-state sized swath of unused leases, the oil and gas industry is also sitting on more than 7,000 unused drilling permits.&nbsp; Drilling permits are the final approval needed to drill for oil or gas, so once they&rsquo;ve got one, there is nothing to keep them from drilling.&nbsp; What&rsquo;s more, those 7,000 unused permits account for over half of the permits issued to oil and gas companies.</p>
<p>Another question worth asking &ndash; why are American refineries exporting precious gasoline even as the price of gasoline is soaring here at home?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For the first time since the 1950s, the U.S. shipped more refined petroleum overseas than we imported &ndash; including gasoline.&nbsp; So rather than selling the gasoline they produce here in the United States, which would increase supply and possibly lower the price we pay at the pump, more and more refineries have been trying to pad their profits by shipping American-made gasoline overseas.</p>
<p>There aren&rsquo;t many options for quick relief from high prices at the pump. But clearly the sooner we free ourselves from the shackles of oil dependence &ndash; foreign and domestic &ndash; the sooner we will be free of oil industry profiteering and political pandering.&nbsp; Doubling our fuel economy, as the Administration is already pursuing, is job #1.&nbsp; But clearly Congress has the obligation to immediately eliminate the $4 billion in obsolete oil and gas annual tax subsidies and devote the resources instead to renewable energy and alternative-fuel vehicles.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Oil industry annual profits swell another $200 million for every additional penny we have to pay at the pump.&nbsp; And they need tax subsidies too?? C&rsquo;mon!&nbsp; Stop those subsidies. It&rsquo;s the least Congress can do on behalf of consumers weary of having the oil industry tip them&nbsp; upside and shake more money out of their pockets.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:00:00 +0000Firefly21346 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/truth-behind-4-gasoline-big-oil-doesnt-want-you-know#commentsGas price myths from the Senate floorhttp://wilderness.org/blog/gas-price-myths-senate-floor
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mar 18, 2012</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/oilrigderekgavey-Flickr.jpg?itok=nrmHgE1x" width="500" height="263" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>oil rig</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>Derek Gavey Flickr&nbsp;</p>
</div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>While debating a bill that would repeal $2 billion in tax subsidies for Big Oil, S. 2204, United States Senators came to the floor to state their case. Unfortunately, those defending Big Oil&rsquo;s perks decided to use well-worn myths and misdirection. It is important for American consumers to know what is true and what is more Big Oil spin. Here are 4 commonly mentioned myths that Senators used to defend the indefensible Big Oil tax subsidies:</p>
<p><strong>Myth:</strong> &ldquo;Doing away with these [taxpayer subsidies] is nothing more than a tax hike that will raise gas prices.&rdquo; &ndash;Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK)<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> A similar refrain was echoed by Sens. Hoeven and Vitter, but it is not true. According to the <a href="http://democrats.senate.gov/pdfs/20110511-crs-analysis-on-gas-prices.pdf" target="_blank">Congressional Research Service</a> &ldquo;the the price of oil is determined on the world market and tends not to be sensitive to small cost variations experience in regional production areas.&rdquo;&nbsp; With oil selling at over $100 a barrel, the tax subsidies have lost their incentivizing purpose and are no longer relevant to gas prices and do not affect crude oil prices at all. Repealing generous tax subsidies will not have an impact on gas prices.</p>
<p><strong>Myth:</strong> An increase in domestic oil production will bring down gas prices. &ndash;Senator John Hoeven (R-ND)<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-more-us-drilling-didnt-drop-gas-065231245.html" target="_blank">This favorite myth was just de-bunked by the Associated Press.</a>&nbsp; Crude oil prices are set on a world market. The United States only has 2% of the world&rsquo;s oil. Domestic production does not make a difference in the price set by OPEC. If increased production could bring down gas prices, then they would already be decreasing because we are producing more oil than at any point in the last 8 years. In spite of this fact, prices continue to spike and volatility reins. As a result, we can conclude that domestic production will not affect prices at the pump.</p>
<p><strong>Myth:</strong> We cannot repeal the tax subsidies because &ldquo;the tax subsidies enjoyed by the Big 5 oil companies are put back into production.&rdquo; &ndash;Senator Dan Coats (R-IN)<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> The Big 5 oil companies make $137 billion in annual profits, while collecting $2 billion in yearly tax subsidies. Even with the small amount of subsidies in relation to their profits, they do not use them to increase production. <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/05/tax_holiday.html" target="_blank">As explained by the Center for American Progress last year</a>, much of this money is used to increase their companies&rsquo; stock price through stock buybacks. While this is great for Big Oil and their shareholders, it does nothing for American consumers and the high prices at the pump.</p>
<p><strong>Myth:</strong> President Obama&rsquo;s energy policy is to keep domestic energy off limits. - Senator Dan Coats (R-IN)<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> Oil and gas production in the United States is at an 8 year high. If President Obama was working to keep our domestic energy off limits, he is doing a terrible job. While our production on shore is skyrocketing, prices at the pump are doing the same. Meanwhile the oil and gas companies are hoarding leases and permits on our public lands, while keeping them idle. Out of 38 million public acres the oil and gas companies hold, two thirds of them are idle. 7,000 permits have been issued that are not being used. Even with all of the idle land, the United States has <a href="http://investor.shareholder.com/bhi/rig_counts/rc_index.cfm" target="_blank">more active drilling rigs than the rest of the world combined.</a>&nbsp; The United States is producing fossil fuels at staggering rates, but this is not enough for the oil industry and their Capitol Hill allies.</p>
<p>Big Oil has held some of these tax subsidies for nearly a century, long before they were making more than $100 billion in yearly profits. With the United States facing tough budget choices, this is an easy one. Big Oil does not need billions of dollars in taxpayer handouts and their allies are resorting to myths to try and stand up for them. It&rsquo;s time to end the corporate welfare for Big Oil.</p>
</div></div></div>Sun, 18 Mar 2012 04:00:00 +0000Mary Price1315 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/gas-price-myths-senate-floor#commentsSenate Misses Opportunity to End Giveaway to Oil Industryhttp://wilderness.org/press-release/senate-misses-opportunity-end-giveaway-oil-industry
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2011-05-17T01:00:00-04:00">May 17, 2011</span></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>
Statement from The Wilderness Society President William H. Meadows, on the Senate vote on S. 940, The Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act.&nbsp; &ldquo;Oil and gas companies are making record profits on the backs of American consumers, and still reaping billions of dollars in unnecessary subsidies from taxpayers as well.&nbsp; With S. 940, the Senate could have signaled the beginning of the end of the the oil industry&#39;s habit of dipping into taxpayers&#39; pockets every April 15th.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Major oil companies have made tens of billions of dollars in profits in just the first quarter of 2011 alone &ndash; a clear sign that they do not need additional handouts from American taxpayers to further pad these profits.&nbsp; BP, which was partly responsible for the worst oil spill in US history &ndash; a spill that is still having effects on the Gulf economy &ndash; posted earnings of more than $7 billion in three months; this is not the type of company that needs help from American taxpayers.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Rather than handing out billions of dollars to companies that do not need it, we should be investing in energy efficiency, and clean energy sources like wind and solar that can provide America with clean, renewable power. The Senate did no favors today to the millions of Americans that are suffering from high prices at the pump, while continuing to underwrite the lavish bonuses and shoddy environmental records of the oil industry.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 18 May 2011 13:31:43 +0000105362 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/press-release/senate-misses-opportunity-end-giveaway-oil-industry#commentsObama proposing new leasing in the Western Arctic Reservehttp://wilderness.org/blog/obama-proposing-new-leasing-western-arctic-reserve
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">May 16, 2011</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/bios/staff/neil-shader">Neil Shader</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/legacy/profiler/Caribou_along_Teshekpuk_Lake.jpg?itok=_D47JY0I" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>
In an effort to address high fuel prices, in his May 14, 2011 weekly address President Obama announced plans to sell federal oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve &ndash; Alaska (also known as the Western Arctic Reserve) and to end billions of dollars in subsidies to major oil companies.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Obama called on the Department of the Interior to hold annual lease sales in the Reserve, but stated that sensitive areas will be kept off-limits.&nbsp; The Wilderness Society has advocated for balance in the plan under development for the Reserve &mdash; protecting high-ecological value areas and areas used for subsistence while also allowing for oil and gas development.&nbsp; The President&rsquo;s call for protection of sensitive areas appears to support that approach.</p>
<p>
Obama&rsquo;s approach essentially acknowledges that unique habitats in the Reserve &mdash; such as <a href="/content/land-kings-alaska%E2%80%99s-western-arctic-reserve-needs-protections">Teshekpuk Lake</a>&nbsp;and the Utukok Uplands &mdash; are too fragile and important, including for subsistence uses, to be opened to oil and gas production.&nbsp; Presidents of both parties have long-recognized the ecological importance of the Teshekpuk Lake region.</p>
<p>
Covering more than 22 million acres &mdash; about the size of the state of Indiana &mdash; the Reserve is part of Alaska&rsquo;s North Slope where the Brooks Range mountains decline into vast tundra plains alongside the Arctic Ocean.&nbsp; Riddled by numerous wetlands critical to breeding waterfowl, the Reserve&rsquo;s tundra is teeming with wildlife such as caribou and bears.</p>
<p>
<a href="/sites/default/files/legacy/NPRA-map.pdf" target=""><img alt="NPRA map. Click for larger view." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/NPRA-map.jpg" style="width: 560px; height: 425px;" /></a></p>
<p>
Created in its current form as part of the Naval Petroleum Reserve Production Act of 1976, the Reserve has seen oil and gas exploration for years.&nbsp; The Department of the Interior is in the process of revising the overall management&nbsp; plan for the entire Reserve.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Regarding Arctic Ocean drilling, the Obama Administration currently is reviewing previously-developed environmental analyses and Shell&rsquo;s May 2011 submittals of Beaufort and Chukchi Sea exploration plans.&nbsp; While he did mention expedited permitting in the Arctic, the President&rsquo;s speech does little to change the status quo regarding Arctic Ocean drilling, nor does it change the fact that there are still major obstacles to overcome before drilling is allowed in the Arctic Ocean.&nbsp; Unproven spill cleanup techniques and distant Coast Guard facilities, coupled with darkness, high winds, fog, and shifting sea ice presenting dangerous operating conditions that must be taken into consideration.</p>
<p>
Obama&rsquo;s proposal also includes eliminating billions of dollars in taxpayer handouts to oil companies that are making tens of billions in profits from high oil prices &mdash; <a href="/content/subsidies-wealthy-and-oil-and-companies ">an idea that TWS agrees with</a>.&nbsp; With industry profits skyrocketing, and prices at the pump over $4 a gallon in many places across the country, cutting tax breaks to major oil companies will help level the playing field for other, cleaner forms of energy like wind and solar development.</p>
<p>
<strong>Photo: </strong>Teshekpuk Lake. Photo by Banerjee.</p>
<p>
<strong>Map:</strong> Courtesy Audubon Alaska.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 16 May 2011 18:17:41 +0000105356 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/obama-proposing-new-leasing-western-arctic-reserve#comments